Jewel Tower, Westminster, Greater London
The Jewel Tower, or 'King's Privy Wardrobe', was built between 1364 and 1366 as a royal treasury for Edward III. It formed the south-west corner of the former Privy Palace of Westminster. Between about 1599 and 1864 the tower was used as the repository for Parliamentary records. In 1621 a fireproof vault was added to house records in response to a fire that had occurred at the Banqueting house in 1619. By 1864, the Parliamentary documents had moved to the newly completed Victoria Tower. Between 1869 and 1938 the Jewel Tower was used as the Office of the Standards Department, housing the official weights and measures. Following damage during the Second World War, it was restored and opened to the public. This property is now (2011) in the care of English Heritage
